posted
I was browsing through STSTCS when I noticed this.
I'm not usually taken by single nacelle designs and I usually disregard anything Federation that doesn't include a deflector (although this one has a grill which could either be a deflector or a through-deck hangar)... however, I think this design is rather charming. Looking at these views, I can picture in my minds eye how such a configuration would look gliding by in orbit or doing the usual beauty shot poses against dramatic starfields. It's got potential.
Obviously, the side hull pods need work. For a start, there is no sense of what purpose they might serve. Are they big sensor platforms like on the Nebulla? Are they weapons pods suffering from a testosterone overload? Might they be really big hangars for a couple of really big shuttles of some sort? This paragraph sort of implies that they could be multi-mission modules, but the things themselves don't hint at that. I certainly thing the front of the pods is all wrong and needs tweaking and would prefer a deflector be worked in somewhere.
Anyway, from a design and aesthetic point of view, what do y'all think?
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
Both your links point to the same page, but that's because of the webmaster.
Anyway, I love this guy's site. I've contacted him before, & even wrote a small essay about the FASA starship designs, which he might have even posted on the site. Howver, the FASA designs themselves (and the cut-and-paste fan designs that evolved from them) are quite horrid, and usually don't equate between the top, side, and front views in many cases.
The ship in question looks good from the top, but the front view makes the ship look like "Bat-Starship."
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
The second-biggest problem with FASA art, after the 3D inconsistency, is that virtually all designs are far larger than the Constitution. They use the same engines and saucer, but then add tons of these roughly sketched hull structures.
IMHO, the way to salvage the nice designs is to assume that, just like with those Galaxy kitbashes, Starfleet believes in 50% saucers and engines. That would give a 150 m Remora, plausible for the escort role.
And the side pods? Perhaps extra fuel for helping the little ship keep up with the big transports of the convoy. Or some innovative "escort weapon", in the style of depth charges or hedgehogs. (My take is "extensible shields".)
posted
Interesting. Particularly the downsize as this casts the side hulls in a new light. They can now be justified as add-on's to increase a small vessels deep range endurance by making up for certain mission specific shortfalls. That's a long way of saying mission modules.
Of course, the hulls need not both serve the same function. Given the small size, there doesn't seem to be too much room for hangar space. Perhaps only the bare minimum. So one could be a hangar, the other a cargo pod to carry the extra maintenance spares and supplies for longer endurance missions (if you can control gravity presumably you can alter your centre of gravity to compensate for different weights in the pods).
Extensible shield generators/projectors is a nice idea when in the close escort role. Perhaps, if they were interchangeable mission modules, you can rerole an otherwise small, limited endurance, limited use vessel for general purpose missions to take up the slack when a Constitution isn't available. We need a first contact ship. Stick a couple of pods on containing extra lab space, accomodation, ground scanning sensors, probes etc.
The design of the pods still needs a lot of work, though. The slight downward angle is appealing from the front, but the shape is too simplistic and looks awkward.
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
A few months back, I made a Charger update- something for the "Lost era" between STVI and TNG. Rather than the strange pods of the Charger, I went with a more Miranda-esque set of large hangars. She's still an escort though- serving alongside behemoths like the Ambassador, it could be little else. I too love STSTCS, but their forums are to be avoided- troll city.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:The Aegian class is a next-generation frigate, approximately equal in capabilities to the New Orleans class ships from the 2350s. While the New Orleans concentrated on firepower and adaptability, the Aegian instead mounts a sophisticated suite of fleet support systems, designed to enhance and expand the combat performance of vessels in its immediate vicinity. Scientific capability is also present, and Aegian class ships can greatly supplement an exploratory mission. The design of the Aegian class frigate is quite unique: the saucer section is small in proportion to the drive section, which houses most of the Aegian's specialized systems. These include a sensor countermeasures and jamming unit, a strong shield generator that can reinforce or replace the shield bubble of several other vessels at once, and a central encrypted computer hub that can instantly update information of all ships in a fleet. While these systems seem only useful in combat, Aegian class frigates have also been assigned to escort of exploratory vessels, and can use these abilities to defend an lightly armed scout, pool the efforts of several research ships, or increase the shield and energy reserves of a ship investigating dangerous phenomena.
posted
Say you didn't happen to come across the ship while downloading the patch for sfc3 after my little post in your last thread did you?
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Lurker, use the search feature for "Aegian" to dig through a great thread on that class- complete with an innustration by Aban and a model by myself (re-mastered by Ravensyar Studios and slated to be released as a kit this month as it so happens!).
The Ageian in Armada II is a good frigate with a great (but total bullshit) super-ability to enhance the shields of nearby Federation ships. We debated the ship's lengths some as well- based on screenshots and the lifeboat hatchs matching those on a Soverign/Steamrunner/Akira, it's a long skinny bitch- maybe 350 to 400 meters.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Aban is a married man now, he should not have innustrations in public.
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
Thanks for the references. Interesting addition to the "Sovereign family". I once commented in another place that one of the reasons the Sovereign looks so completely out of place amongst other contemporary Federation designs is because there are few other variants using similar technology and configurations. I was making a case for it being a bad design choice at the time!
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
It's allright. The nacelles suck though- see the Soverign variant from the video game ST: Invasion- the standard sovvie nacelles are beefed up at the too-skinny end and it balances the ship out nicely.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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